The ten workers trapped in a collapsed railway tunnel in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region might still be alive, rescuers said Thursday.

The tunnel collapsed at 2:35 p.m. on March 19 in Zhuozi County of Ulanqab City.

"The tunnel is not totally caved in. There is room inside for the workers to survive," said Wang Faling, a technician in charge of the rescue on the scene.

Drilling of a horizontal passage will be completed very soon allowing rescuers to get in. Around 60 medical workers and ten ambulances were currently waiting by the tunnel entrance, said Wang.

Rescuers has drilled through a section rubble 27-meter-long, and called through a tiny pipe, but got no response.

An estimated 2,000 cubic meters of rocks and dirt caved in when the tunnel collapsed at 2:35 p.m. on March 19 in Zhuozi County of Ulanqab City, about 150 km from the regional capital Hohhot.

The tunnel is part of a railway being built to link Ulanqab City's Jining District and Baotou City, Inner Mongolia.